Interactive timeline - Conflict

479 BC

Battle of Plataea

Final major battle of the Greco-Persian Wars; ending the expansion of the Persian Empire into Greece.

1260 AD

Battle of 'Ain Jalut

'Ayn Jalut was a major world event. The first time a Mongol army was defeated in open battle.

1346 AD

Battle of Crécy

First land victory of the '100 Years War' for English infantry over French mounted knights.

1453 AD

Siege of Constantinople

The fall of Constantinople was the first great siege won with gunpowder artillery.

1525 AD

Battle of Pavia

First significant victory by infantry with firearms over fully armoured knights on the battlefield.

1526 AD

Battle of Panipat

A traditional Indian army with war elephants is beaten by artillery and infantry musketeers.

1588 AD

Defeat of Spanish Armada

Spain's attempt to invade England ended when English ships with superior guns defeated its Armada.

1600 AD

Battle of Sekigahara

100 years of civil war ends. Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu's dynasty rules Japan for the next 250 years.

1645 AD

Battle of Naseby

Charles I defeated. He is arrested, tried and executed. Parliament rules England as a republic.

1815 AD

Battle of Waterloo

Wellington described Napoleon's defeat as a 'close run thing'. The battle's outcome shaped Europe.

What we do

Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom’s national museum of arms and armour, including artillery.

As a museum we have a duty of care for these objects: a duty to keep them, study them and increase our knowledge of them, so that this knowledge can be passed to future generations along with the objects themselves.

This knowledge can be shared with others who also collect arms and armour. We are actively involved with, and support, a number of groups committed to the study of the subject and its practical applications. We offer an enquiry service for both the public and the commercial world alike, and have often acted as consultants on a number of film and television projects.

Did you know?

A flash in the pan

This expression originates with the misfire of a flintlock or similar gun. The powder in the pan is supposed to ignite the main charge in the barrel. Sometimes only the powder in the pan flashed without firing the main charge.

Specialist enquiries

Got Excalibur in the loft or "that arrow" from the Battle of Hastings above the fireplace?